they became serpents

7:12 they became serpents. Like the “image of the beast” (Revelation 133–15), which will seem to have life, these magician-induced serpents can only have been “lying wonders” (II Thessalonians 2:9). Neither men nor demons can create life; this is a prerogative only of God, who “created...every living creature” (Genesis 1:21). However, men and demons can generate hypnotic mental states and visions which people like Pharaoh may think involve real physical entities. When it was over, however, there was nothing to show for it; even the rods were gone.